Dropping in to say that I had an opportunity to meet The folks from Dominion this weekend at the North American Freestyle Sambo Championships in Austin. They brought a solid and well trained team. While I did have a chance to "break bread" so to speak, with Rey Rodriguez, I can't add anything new to the discussion regarding his or the club's Sambo lineage. However I can say that they were a good group of guys and they did very well at the event. Participating in the Sambo community is the best way to start the process of becoming a true Sambo club. So, Kudos to Dominion for showing up and putting it out there on the mat. Despite my feelings about the club's marketing, etc, I was glad to see them come and start participating. It is a good thing. Here are the tournament results:

Trained there a bit

I trained there. Cory was there, he never claimed he trained as a Sambo expert. He just trained a little in Sambo and showed what he knew. He would have Rey perform as the Uki but Rey would look confused sometimes on the correct way to excute the move. Rey was trained I think in Shotokan Karate and supposedly a little Judo as well. He taught at PKI here in SA as an instructor for a bit. After Cory left, he was doing all the Sambo teaching....advanced stuff and all. I was wondering where he learned, and I think he said the 70 school in Russia. (There was also some questionable stories there). A 3rd BB in Judo named Dave came in and started teaching, he had all his credentials posted from the Kotokhan in Japan, he had excellent Judo, which you could see Rey's wasn't even close. A guy name Tony who knew some BJJ, trained with John Dixon in Sambo for a bit and would show us what he was taught most in the afternoons, then at night, Rey or someone else would show what Tony taught as something new only they had learned.....but he left after awhile, along with Dave the Judo instructor....don't know the reason...haven't seen since. Rey claimed to know and train with Gochor and Jean Labell, not sure when this happened, he has a picture with them when his team went there for a tourny, so I guess that is how and now claims Hyastian Grappling. The BJJ if I had to guess mainly is from videos, but some of the guys had good ground grappling to include, Jerry (currently still there) Tony (gone) and Scott (gone) and a few others who have left. I don't think Cory was getting paid anything or even offered, and for him to be there on his weekends half the day may have been why he originally left....not sure of the absolute reason though. Most of the training seemed sloppy from a BJJ perspective and not closely supervised.....lots of kids parents took them out from either injury or an instructor not watching while there kid was being choked or submit beyond limits. Rey, in my personal opinion is a very nice and sincere individual.

I trained there quite alot

Originally Posted by sambosteve

LOL. Take it however you choose. Maybe I should have said Maki Komi

Rey tells some big stories. If you watch his most current videos by punching up Dominion MMA on google and hit videos, he is talking about his fighters and experience as of 2015. He says he knows Gokor and Judo Jean Labell, which he doesn't, said he was trained by Gokor, yet he wasn't. He never knew any BJJ, yet know he is associated with Marcello Montoya, whom he pays afflilation fees and trains hes folks using I think his videos, and Montoya will supposedly give him a degree stripe on his belt. He doesn't know Sambo, never trained in Sambo, yet I remember him stating specifically after Cory left he trained in Russia at the 70 school. Lots of kids parents took them out of his training because there were not being watched during training and getting hurt. I remember seeing 8,9 10+ year old white belts trying to due foot and knee locks (incorrectly I may add) until I had to step in and stop them because Rey would just focus on one pair at a time. Many adults have left because they started to realize the lies he was telling.

I know them

I have responded twice to this post but have yet to see it on the thread. If this shows up, then I will give you the run down on them as I have trained there before and can tell you everything from the beginning.

I have responded twice to this post but have yet to see it on the thread. If this shows up, then I will give you the run down on them as I have trained there before and can tell you everything from the beginning.

I looked at training MT and Grappling (Sambo, BJJ or Hayastan) at Dominion when I first moved to San Antonio a while back. I was always concerned about doing so as their instructor bios never seem to list anything in terms of credentials in any of the systems they teach. The place is very close to where I live, and is even closer to where I work, so it would have been convenient, but that raised a red flag for me.